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(No Model.) V

B. F. ADAMS.

RBPRIGBRATOR. No. 290,306. 'Patented Dev.. v18,v188.,.

INVEN TOR v j V N N4 PETERS, Hwlwmhugmplwr. washlnglan. ne

BENJAMIN F. ADAMS, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK.

REFRIGER'ATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,306, dated December 18, 41583. Application lcd August 13, 1883. (No model.)

" 0 all Awhom t may concern.-

Be it known' that I, BENJAMIN F. Annals, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements on the refrigerator for which Letters Patent were granted to me under date of January 30, 1383, No. 271,391. In said invention the floor ofthe ice-chamber (which also forms the roof or top of the provision-chamber) is composed of plane or fiat sheets of metal.

The present invention consists, first, in having the lioor vof the ice-chamber (or roof of the provision-chamber) composed of a series of gutters arranged side by side, with inverted gutters or sheds arranged over them to prevent the water from `dripping through the spaces between the gutters, but cause it to be conveyed to the corrugatedlining of the foodchamber.

The present invention consists, further, in the employlnent of apserie's of inner doors or curtains arranged rearward and independent of the main or'outer door of the provisionchamber, whereby access is afforded to the interior ofthe provision-chamber without exposing more than a small portion thereof to the outside atmosphere, as hereinafter' more particularly described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator construct- -ed according to my invention, partly broken the refrigerator, and is formed by the walls of the refrigerator and y improved floor, consisting of a rowof V-shaped gutters with open spaces between them, which openings are covered by another row of inverted V-shaped gutters, all of which are so inclined as to carry the moisture caused bycondensation to some receptacle that will receive and conduct the Same to the outer portion of thebox. In order to have the floor of the ice-chamber as nearly level as possible, for convenience in putting in square ice, the lower gutters are provided with a wire or bead at the extreme lower point, 'that it may carry the moisture at a less angle than by any other means, as is observed by watching the drop on a telegraphwire, which will adhere to the wire for a great distance, even though the inclination be very slight. This wire or bead need not be confined to a bottom composed of gutters; but wires or beads may be applied at suitable intervals to the under surface of a licor or bottom composed of a plane or fiat sheet of metal, as iu my patent of January 30, 1883, before referred to. The object in having the bottom of the ice-chamber in this way is to have a direct circulation of the warmest air in the box pass easily through said bottom and come in contact with the ice in the easiest and quickest possible way. The spaces between the gutters allow the free passage of air; but, owing to their position with relation to each other, no water can drop into the provision-chamber. The object in having the small inner doors is that it prevents any great amount of cold air from escaping when the large door is opened, and each door, being hung at its upper part, falls shut of its own weight. This arrangement is especially adapted to restaurants and hotels and chocolate-manufacturers,where the continued opening of the large door would render the refrigerator almost useless. This object is attained in another equally practical and simple way, by having an upper and lower curtain of some suitable material closely tted to the space in the door and rolled up and down on a roller at both top and bottom ofthe doorway. These curtains can be adjusted easily, and as easily removed, and the space between can be made smaller or larger by means of cords, which may be drawn up or let out, as occasion may require. When once adjusted, the open space can be raised and lowered, as occasion may require. Hspring-rollers are used, should one spring be too strong for the other, a simple device is made to catch the curtain wherever it stops and holds it in its position until it is required to be moved. By this device almost all the cold air is kept in the box when the door is opened.

Referring to the drawings, A is the outer IOO case of a refrigerator, which may be provided I double grooves or gutters Il', which are arwith an inner lining, c, constructedaccording to my said former invention, or with any other suitable device for conveying the water from the ice-chamber.

B is the ice-chamber, the bottom C of which is inclined downward in one or more directions inthe same manner and for the same purposes as are described in the specilication annexed to the above-mentioned Letters Patent No. 271,391. The refrigerator may beprovided with any number of shelves or trays supported in any suitable manner, but while in my former invention the bottom of the icebox consisted of a continuous sheet of metal, in this case it is formed by a series of gutters or troughs, c, with spaces between them, over which spaces are arranged a series ofinverted gutters, c", which act as water-sheds and prevent the water from dripping through the spaces between the gutters c', but cause it instead to drip into said gutters c and be by lhem conveyed tothe corrugated inner lining, a, or other arrangement for receiving the water. rIhe moisture in the provisioirehamber of the refrigerator is condensed en the lower surface ofthe said gutters c', and is collected by wires c, which conduct it to the sides of the refrigerator.

The sides D and E of the door-frame of said refrigerator are shown respectively in Figs. 4 and 5. The side D is provided with round sockets d, and the side E is provided with notched sockets zl".

F F represent aseries of hanging doors, the ends of which are provided with gudgeonsf, one of which is inserted in the round socket d' and the other dropped into the notched socket d. The doors hang freely, and can be opened and closed independently of each other and closed by their own weight.

An outside door, G, may be attached to the refrigerator in the usual or any suitable manner.

rlhe advantages of my invention are readily seen, inasmuch as it allows the air to circulate freely through every part of the refrigerator, and even to come into contact with the ice itself, thus cooling the air in the shortest possible time, and keeping it constantly at a low temperature, and this without allowing the water to drip upon the articles which may be in the space below the ice-chamber. By this arrangement the warm air (being lightest) ascends to the upper portion of the box without meeting any obstruction whatever. The advantages of the inner hanging'doors F are that any one of them may be opened singly and any article removed. while the other doors F remain tightly closed, thus allowing only a very small quantity of outside warm air to find access to the refrigerator.

I do not confine myself solely to the particular arrangement of gutters and inverted gutters as hereinabove described; but the same may be arranged as shown in Fig. 3. The said figure represents a series of Z-shaped ranged as shown in said figure, and act substantially in the same manner as the gutters c and c2, hereinabove described.

Referring to Figs. 6, 7, and 8, Ii K represent curtains made of any suitable non-conducting flexible material. Each curtain is attached to a roller, which may be provided with a spring or not, as may be preferred. One roller is hung at the top and the other at the bottom of the doorway. The upper and lower edges of the curtains are brought as near to each other as desired, and secured at such distance by any suitable means. vVhen it is desired to reach any particular portion ofthe interior of the provision-chamber without exposing the entire interior, the curtains are raised or lowered, either by means of springs on said rollers or by means of an endless cord passing around pulleys at their ends until the open space between the edges of the curtains is opposite the portion of the interior of the provision-chamber to which access is desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An ice-chamber having its bottom or floor provided on its under surface with wires or beads for the purpose of carrying off the moisture caused by condensation, substantially as herein described.

2. In a refrigerator, the combination, with a series of gutters forming the floor ofthe icechamber andthe top of the provision-chamber, of a series of wires arranged at the exterior of the bottoms of said gutters, substantially as and fdr the purpose herein described.

3. In a refrigerator, the combination of an iee-ehamber provided on its under surface with wires or beads, and a corrugated lining, a, arranged to receive on its eorrugations the drippings from the melting ice in the icechamber, substantially as herein described.

i-. A refrigerator having its provisionehamber provided with a series of inner doors arranged to open upward and to close by their own weight, said doors being independent of each other, and of the outer or main door of the refrigerator, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

5. A refrigerator provided with curtains attached to rollers, hung, respectively, at the top and bottom ofthe doorway of the provision-chamber, and arranged with relation to each other, so as to afford access to different portions of the provision-chamber without exposing any other portion of the interior thereof, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 11th day of August, A. D. 1883.

BENJAMIN I". ADAMS.

W'itnesses V. I. GoDLnY, E. E. Hornixs.

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